Everlast (Original Version)
by CobaltCoolio
Summary: Strange occurrences have been taking place in the region of Alron, a region inhabited by only Pokémon. Pokémon have been showing up on shores, in forests, or at the base of mountains with no memory of who they are or why they are there. One of these Pokémon is a Shinx named Plasma. He meets an Eevee, telling him to work for a guild, which sets him on his adventure.
1. Plasma

_"Now is no time for resting. These people need you. You will come to understand in time, but now you must not wait._

 _Wake up."_

• • •

A lone Shinx in a green forest awoke with a gasp. He felt out of breath, and very weak, but still attempted standing. Once on his feet, he began to survey the landscape. Trees everywhere, berry bushes, leaves on the ground, and a path.

 _Should I... Follow the path?_ He thought. He was toward the end of the path, so there was only one way to go (which was very likely toward the nearest civilization. The Shinx started down the trail, hearing Starlies singing and Zigzagoon rustling bushes in the thicker parts of the forest.

 _First thing's first_ , he thought. _Who am I?_ He blanked, still walking down the path. After a brief moment, he remembered, _that's right. My name is Plasma. I'm a Shinx, from..._

However, Plasma didn't remember where he was from. Or even where he was, and why he was there in the first place. This was troubling, but he kept as calm as he could, and kept following the path.

Farther down the trail, Plasma began seeing a light brighter than the sunlight shining through the trees. Picking up speed, his legs began to ache, and his joints were sore. Once he reached the clearing, he fell down from pain, and couldn't get up from exhaustion. At least he was out of the forest. Feeling somewhat relieved, he began to drift back to sleep.

"Are you feeling okay?" a soft voice spoke from the darkness. Plasma woke up quickly and smacked his head against someone else as he jolted up.

"Ah! What the hell?" The voice belonged to a young female Eevee. She was rubbing her head with one of her forepaws, and sitting up on her hind legs. "Nice greeting... Wasn't expecting a headbutt. Jeez."

"Oh, uh, sorry," Plasma said, sitting upright again. "You surprised me."

"Why were you asleep on the ground? Come to think of it, why are you here? Never seen you around before..."

"Uh, I don't know and I don't know."

"Oh..." The Eevee turned around, talking to herself. "So he's one of _those_ Pokémon. But usually they're out away from the central city, not on the outskirts of town..."

"Something wrong?" Plasma asked, reaching out to the Eevee's shoulder.

"Oh, not at all!" She spun back around, batting his paw out of the way. "I'm guessing you need some help getting use to the region. To get your footing, I'd suggest visiting one of the guilds and doing some apprentice work. There's four-"

"Um, you never introduced yourself," Plasma interrupted. The Eevee made a puzzled face then looked as if she realized something.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested," she said with a sigh. Plasma blushed and shook his head vigorously.  
"That's not what I meant at all! I just wanted to know your name."

"Oh?" She made the same puzzled look. "Um... My name's..." She thought for a second. "Eh... Elizabeth...?"

"You're not lying, are you?"

"You think I believe _you_ with a name like 'Plasma'?" She scoffed. "Anyway, to the point. You should do some apprentice work at a guild, make a living of some kind. There's four guilds, North, East, South, West. Head wherever you want, doesn't really matter in the long-run. Well, see you around." She began to turn and walk.

Before the Eevee could get too far, Plasma ran up in front of her. "Hey, you're just gonna leave after that?"

"Well..." she thought. "yeah, that's right. Why?"

"Uh... Come with me!" Plasma said sternly, planting his feet firmly on the ground.

"Wh-What? Why?" The Eevee took a step back.

"Because... Well, I need company in this new region. I need _someone_ to help me!"

"Huh?" She blushed slightly. "Uh-... I guess accompanying you for a bit wouldn't hurt..."

"GREAT!" He exclaimed. "Let's go... North!" He faced the direction he believed was north.

"Um..." the Eevee giggled. "First off, that's west. And second, I already belong to the eastern guild. So we're headed this way, big guy." She pointed Plasma the opposite direction he was facing.

"Oh. Uh..." He laughed at his mistake. "Of course! Lead the way, Elizabeth!"

The Eevee laughed as Plasma said 'Elizabeth,' and began walking east. It was going to be an interesting day for her.


	2. The Guild

The road leading east was smooth dirt, and many Pokémon were walking back toward the central area. Only some were walking east, and most of them had colored scarves or bandanas. They had very similar bags, made of a tanned cloth material with a badge used to close the flap and a strap to carry the bag.

Plasma looked over to the Eevee, and noticed she had none of those things.

"Why do the Pokémon heading east have bandanas and the same bags?" he asked.

"They're part of an exploration team," she answered. "Of course, Pokémon who arrive here the way you did don't know much about guilds, so I'll fill you in-"

"Wait-wait-wait, there are others like me?"

"Oh yeah, your case is nothing special. More and more Pokémon have been showing up with no memory or reason to why they're here. It's honestly surprising you could even remember your name. Anyway, exploration teams. They explore, obviously, and find new places like mystery dungeons, or just hidden places that may have something special there." She turned to Plasma. "They even get to stay at the guild with practically no rent. Sounds pretty good, right?"

"If you want to be an explorer, why don't you join an exploration team?"

"Oh, they don't want weak Pokémon... You and me, we'd never be accepted to join a team."

Plasma wondered what exploring unknown places would be like. Maybe it's thrilling, dangerous, and well-paying. Maybe the guild would be a great place to stay. Unless the Pokémon didn't accept him there as a newbie.

After about a half-an-hour later, they arrived at a little encampment. There were shops, storage rooms, a public bathhouse, and more small setups. They stopped at a sort of gatehouse with a grate in the ground in front of it. As they walked over it, Eevee signaled Plasma to stop.

"Welcome back, guild member," a voice yelled from below the grate. "Who is with you?"

"Just a visitor," Eevee replied. "He won't cause any harm."

"Whatever you say..." The doors to the gatehouse slowly opened, and Eevee signaled Plasma to follow her inside.

Following Eevee, Plasma climbed down a ladder, leading into a large open room. There were two closed doors and two hallways, which Plasma didn't know what was through them. Eevee went down the hallway farthest from the ladder, and waited for him.

As Plasma walked in the room at the end of the hallway, we saw that there were 3 tables, and a magby and phanpy were sitting at one. Eevee sat with them, so he followed.

"Hey Patona," the Phanpy said. "Uh, who's that?" He gestured toward Plasma.

"Oh, so your name's Patona," Plasma said. "Adorable!"

"Shut up!" Patona yelled. She sighed. "He's a guy I thought you could help out. Apprentice work stuff."

"Oh," the Magby exhaled disappointedly. "I thought he was gonna help us form a team. Then again, he doesn't look like the explorer-type."

"Is that an insult?" Plasma growled.

"Oh, no not at all. Never mind, just ignore me."

"I'll show you where to get jobs," the Phanpy said. "By the way, I'm Sosharu." He started walking out of the room, and Plasma followed.

"I'm Plasma," he responded. They walked out and went up to a bulletin board on the wall. There were papers pinned to it, with varying jobs on each one.

"Here's the apprentice jobs," Sosharu said. "They're pretty easy, and pay pretty cheap. They only other option is to try and form your own exploration team, but that's-"

"You can form your own exploration team?" Plasma asked. "How?"

"Talk to the guild master, Masuta. Ask about forming a team, and if he thinks you're worthy, he'll let you. Right now, if you form a team, you could be allowed to investigate what I call 'the case of appearing Pokémon.' You're one of them, I take it. Pokémon have been showing up without memories and we're trying to find out why."

"We need to form one," Plasma said, determined. He knew he had to if he wanted to figure out why he was here, or who he was.

"Um... I don't think me and you could-"

Before Sosharu could finish, Plasma had already ran back to the room with the tables. To his luck, Patona and the Magby were both still there. Sosharu followed him into the room, and sat down. However, Plasma, instead of sitting, jumped up onto the table and stood up tall.

"Patona!" he yelled. "We're making an exploration team!" He reached out with one paw toward her.

"Wh-What?" Patona said, confused. "We're all weak! Not only that, but none of us know you! Why should we make a team with you?"

"I know this is really sudden, and you're right, you don't know me. But I promise all of you I'll do my best, and support you all through thick and thin. I'll be loyal to you. Look, I need to know why I'm here, and forming an exploration team brings me one huge step closer." Plasma looked down and gulped, his paw still outstretched.

Sosharu began to clap. "Beautiful speech. I'm convinced. How about you guys?" Patona looked at him, surprised.

"Huh?" Patona sighed. "Fine." She put her paw on top of Plasma's, Sosharu doing the same.

"I guess I don't get much of a say then," the Magby said, shrugging. "Oh well." He did the same as the others.

"Great!" Plasma exclaimed. "Now, let's go to the guild master!" He walked out of the room, and after a short time walked back in. "Uh, which room is the guild master in again?"

Patona sighed again. "What have I gotten myself into..."

The group walked to a door to the right of the entry and exit ladder, and stopped. Patona opened the door.

They were ready to become an exploration team.


	3. Everlast is Born

As the group opened the door, Plasma saw a medium-sized room, with torches on the walls for light. There was some sort of throne-like chair atop a raised plain. Sitting in the chair, there was a female Serperior who had a blue color where most Serperiors had a darker shade of green. _She must be shiny_ , Plasma thought. He assumed this was Masuta, the guild master Sosharu mentioned.

Everyone around him looked nervous and doubtful, but Plasma kept a face of determination.

Masuta rose slightly from her throne and studied each of the group. She exhaled heavily, and lowered back down into the chair.

"What do you want?" Masuta said with a powerful voice.

Plasma stepped forward. There was no turning back now. "We want to form an exploration team!" he yelled.

Masuta shifted around in her throne. "And why should I let you? Exploration is hard work. And you're all low-leveled. Not to mention basic Pokémon."

Plasma gulped. "We're hard workers! We'll make up for our weakness in loyalty, and effort. You'll see if you give us the chance to show you."

"Hm. Yes. And why do you want to form an exploration team?"

Patona stepped forward with Plasma. "I've always dreamed of exploring unknown places," she said with hope in her voice. "I always see explorers venturing off to find new places, or to explore mystery dungeons... And I want to do that too. I know how hard and dangerous it must be, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to become a true explorer."

Magby stepped forward. "I'd be a great explorer!" he said. "I've been training hard to be stronger. I can fight pretty well, if I say so myself. I know a bunch of different battle techniques, and I'd have no problem taking out enemies we encounter!"

Sosharu finally joined them. "I don't know too much about fighting," he said, "but I can climb, run, and travel just about anywhere. I have great stamina, and can venture to far-off places if you need me to. I like to think I'm pretty useful for exploration, but bigger teams don't accept me. So I think this is my chance to prove to them I'm just as capable as any of them."

"And I..." Plasma looked straight into Masuta's eyes, "I need to find out why I'm here. All I know is my name, Plasma. I don't know who I am, or where I came from, but I _will_ find out. We will be the ones to solve the case of appearing Pokémon. And after that's done, we'll continue exploring this region, and find whatever hasn't been found by anyone yet. So please..." He took a deep breath. " _Let us form an exploration team!_ "

Masuta seemed surprised for a second, then closed her eyes as if she were in deep thought. "You four are very determined. You have that. And a group of four weak Pokémon is a bit better than one strong Pokémon. So, I suppose..." She paused. "Let me get something."

Masuta went into a back room behind the throne. Plasma could hear shuffling, like she was going through storage. After about a minute, she came out with 4 bags and 4 pink bandanas. Throwing them in front of the group, she went back to her seat.

"What is your team name?" She asked.

"Name?" Plasma said. "I hadn't thought about-"

"Everlast!" Patona exclaimed, interrupting Plasma. "Team Everlast!"

"Okay," Masuta said. "Everlast. Team Everlast, these bags and bandanas are yours; symbols of exploration and determination. I trust you will do well, and hope to see you accomplish great things. Now, go out there and explore."

The new Team Everlast but their bandanas on and picked up their bags.

"Thank you!" Plasma and Patona said at the same time. They smiled at each other and left the room with Magby and Sosharu.

As they opened the door to exit, the few Pokémon standing on the other side saw their bags and bandanas. They began clapping and congratulating Team Everlast.

An Electabuzz shook hands with Plasma, a Grotle playfully bumped into Sosharu, and a Charmeleon hugged Magby. Patona sat smiling, and watched her new teammates. She saw how happy everyone was.

 _Just earlier today we thought we'd never be an exploration team_ , she thought. She looked at Plasma, who was smiling and laughing. _It's because of him. This strange Pokémon who appeared out of nowhere. His boldness and leadership is what we needed. And we got it from a total stranger._

After around ten minutes, a Riachu brought Team Everlast to their new room. The team rooms were down the hall that Plasma hadn't been down yet, and there were several rooms already decorated to the team's liking. In their room, there were four small beds, but no furniture or decorations, other than a lantern hanging from the ceiling. They entered the room, and Raichu left them to themselves.

"A brand new room!" Magby exclaimed, claiming a bed as his own. Sosharu chose the bed to the right of Magby's, Patona choosing the one in front of Magby's, which left Plasma with the bed to the right of Patona.

"This is a brand new beginning for us," Sosharu announced. "As Team Everlast. All thanks to this guy!" He punched Plasma's shoulder.

They laughed together, and talked about different things going on in the guild. Sosharu filled Plasma in on the region and relations between guilds. All the guilds were neutral toward each other, excluding the north guild. They were hostile toward all except the western guild. Sosharu wasn't sure why, but he said it was most likely some sort of history with past guild masters.

"I'm beat," Plasma said, yawning. "I think I'm ready to try out this bed." He went to lie down on his bed. "Can somebody get the lantern?" Magby put the lantern out, and soon everyone was laying in their bed.

As he closed his eyes, Plasma felt someone hug his back. They were warm and soft, and slightly smaller than him.

"Thank you," Patona whispered in his ear. "You have no idea how much this means to me." She let go of him and went back to her bed.

 _Thank_ you, _Patona_ , Plasma thought, as he drifted to sleep.

Tomorrow would be Team Everlast's first day on the job.


	4. The Job

Maybe it was the new location or maybe it was Sosharu's snoring, but something woke Plasma up before everyone else. As he opened his eyes, he looked around the room. He almost didn't remember where he was.

Patona had rolled on to Plasma's bed in her sleep, Sosharu was sleeping in a strange position on his back with his legs stretched out around him. The magby that Plasma still didn't know the name of was in a position similar to Sosharu, except on his belly.

Plasma began to stand up, and as he did, Patona yawned.

She moaned drowsily, then looked up at Plasma. "Up pretty early...?" She was still half asleep.

"Yeah," Plasma replied. "Did I wake you up?"

"I was using you as a... a big pillow..." She wrapped her forelegs around one of his. "So... warm..."

"Um..." Before Plasma could protest or respond, she was already falling back to sleep. "Patona?" He pushed her a bit.

"Hm? Oh!" Suddenly she sprang to her feet. "I-I'm sorry! I can be... grabby, sometimes." She looked away, embarrassed for a moment. Shortly after, she smiled confidently. "Well! Ready for our first day on the job?"

"I am," Sosharu said, rolling to his feet. "But _Ember_ isn't!"

The magby mumbled something under his breath. He began to get up and said "I'm up... you..." The last words were incomprehensible nonsense.

"Oh, good!" Patona grinned. "Now that everyone's up, we can go to the job bulletin board."

Ember moaned, but Plasma and Sosharu agreed.

Team Everlast walked out of their room and down the hall to check the available jobs. Plasma thoroughly checked the board and saw several different kinds of jobs. Some were for missing items, others were labor like fixing walls or cutting grass, but one stood out to him.

"We're doing _that_ one," Plasma stated, staring at a paper to the left side of the board.

"Hm?" Patona looked at the paper and suddenly looked intimidated. "Th-That one?" The paper had 'MISSING POKÉMON' written in large letters. It described a location north of the guild that was barely explored.

The job summary read "Pokémon have been disappearing in a place called Deep Cavern. It is unknown why. If an exploration team can bring back the missing pokémon, and/or finds out what is causing these disappearances, they will be rewarded handsomely at a minimum of 5000P total."

"Hey guy," Ember poked Plasma's side, "you realize that's a high-paying job, right? That's most likely extremely difficult."

Plasma took down the paper and started walking to Masuta's quarters. "You register the job with the guild master, right?" he said.

"Are you sure about this?" Patona asked.

He turned around to face her. "There are pokémon out there alone. They need our help. If no one else has helped them yet, we might as well try." He ran into Masuta's quarters.

No one followed him in, so the rest of the team could only guess what was happening.

"That guy's crazy," Ember scoffed.

"Hey!" Patona yelled at him. "He just wants what he thinks is best! His heart's in the right place..."

"Whoa." Ember took a step back. "Jeez. Since when did this guy mean so much to you?"

"Hmph." Patona blushed and turned away.

Soon enough, Plasma came back out with a determined smile on his face.

"That can't be good," Ember remarked.

"Let's pack up," Plasma said, holding out a stamped paper. The stamp on the paper symbolized that the job had been accepted and registered with a team.

"Ho-ly Miltank," Sosharu said. "We're really doing this..."

"You know it."

The team headed back to their room to gather their belongings. The trip was sure to be long, so by the suggestion of Ember, they spent personal money on berries and drinks. Ready for the journey, they stood at the northern edge of the guild's land.

"Here we are..." Plasma said. "Our first job. In a practically uncharted land..."

"We get it," Ember said.

"Oh, hah. Sorry."

Patona stood next to Plasma. "You're even more excited about this than me. You've got a strong drive..."

Plasma smiled at her. "One step closer to the rest of my new life. Who wouldn't be excited?"

"True..." She nuzzled him happily. "Let's go."

"Right!"

Team Everlast then headed into the forest, hiking to their first true mission as an exploration team. They were ready for anything.

-Note

I've been pretty busy, which is why this took so long to write. I'm most likely going to get more and more busy, so don't expect frequent updates anymore. I'll try to update this (at the _very_ least) monthly. Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked this chapter. (Also, the next chapter should be MUCH longer than this)


End file.
